Removable anchor attachment device for sheet covers



Dec. 28, 1965 w. J. DURHAM 3,225,408

REMOVABLE ANCHOR ATTACHMENT DEVICE FOR SHEET COVERS Filed May 2;, 1964(I l\ v rd Wm United States Patent 3,225,408 REMOVABLE ANCHOR ATTACHMENTDEVICE FOR SHEET CGVERS William 3'. Durham, Chicago, Ill., assignor toCharles Schwartz 8: Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of IllinoisFiled May 22, 1964, Ser. No. 369,411 3 Claims. (Cl. 24265) Thisinvention relates to improvements in an attachment device adapted to beremovably secured to tarpaulinlike covers at selected locations spacedalong the marginal edges of the cover for anchoring to stakes, hooks orthe like.

In reference to the herein invention, tarpaulin-like covers can be madeof plastic, canvas or other waterproof fabric material and can be madein various configurations and sizes. The covers are widely used in manydifferent ways, too numerous to enumerate profitably. I-leretofore, mealgrommets or eyelets were secured at spaced locations along marginaledges of the cover by means of special eyelet machines which pierced thecover to anchor the eyelet. The eyelet or grommet so secured wasstationary and guy lines, such as ropes, cables, or the like were passedthrough the eyelet and tied to a peg, hook, stake or the like in awell-known way. This invention is concerned with providing an attachmentor anchoring device adapted to be removably secured to the cover whichdoes not employ the conventional eyelet or grommet with attendantunexpected advantages.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the invention to provide aremovable attachment device for flexible sheet covers which does notutilize an eyelet or grommet for a guy line.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a device of thecharacter described which comprises a strip of waterproof, flexiblesheet material having a transverse loop at one end thereof and abifurcated end opposite said loop, an elongate relatively rigid sleevesecured in said loop for reinforcing and rigidifying the loop, saidbifurcated end having means on interior surface portions thereof forremovably securing the anchor device to a marginal edge of a cover sheetwith said reinforced loop spaced outwardly of said edge.

Other objects of the invention are to provide an anchor device of thecharacter described which is comprised of a relatively wide strip ofwaterproof, flexible sheet material, said strip being folded mediallyand transversely across the length thereof to provide a loop at oneextremity and a pair of free end portions at the opposite extremity ofthe folded strip, said free end portions each having a pressuresensitive adhesive surface of high adhesive strength for attaching theanchor device to the sheet cover and said loop being reinforced acrosssub stantially the entire width of the strip for passing and holding aguy line therein and distributing pull forces of a guy line uniformlyacross the width of the strip.

Other objects of the invention reside in providing a device of thecharacter described which is economical to manufacture, which is verystrong and durable, which can be attached at selected locations andsubsequently removed for attachment again at different locations on thecover, which is compact and which can be compactly packaged inconvenient multiples thereof.

The foregoing as well as other objects of the invention will becomeapparent as the description of the invention evolves. Recourse is had toa preferred embodiment described in detail and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, however, it is contemplated that minor variationsin the structure and components thereof may occur to the skilled artisanwithout departing from the scope or sacrificing any of the advantagesthereof.

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In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a cover installed to protect amound of grain, this being representative of one size and configurationof cover with which the attachment device embodying the invention isusable.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of said attachment device with portions ofthe protective strips covering adhesive surfaces partially peeled away.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the attachment device embodying theinvention secured along a marginal edge of the cover of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 44of FIG. 3 and in the general direction indicated.

Referring now to the drawing, in FIG. 1, a representative cover isidentified by the reference character 20 and is made from a suitablewaterproof material such as plastic, treated canvas, or other waterproofmaterial. The cover 20 is exemplary of one configuration and size oftarpaulin-like cover. In this instance, it is a circular cover and ithas a plurality of attachment or anchor devices embodying the inventionattached along the marginal edge thereof at spaced locations so that guylines 22 can be used to tie the cover down on a mound of grain 24. Theguy lines 22 are secured to stakes 26 driven into the ground at suitablelocations for tying the cover 2% tautly on the rnound of grain 24. Theattachment or anchor device embodying the invention is designatedgenerally by the reference character 39.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 4, the device 30 is comprised of a singlelength of a relatively wide strip of suitable flexible material foldedtransversely and approximately midway between the extremities thereof toprovide a loop end 32 and a bifurcated end 34 opposite said end 32. Theend 34 is provided by a pair of free end segments 36 of the resultingpair of superimposed plies 37. The plies 37 are adhesively securedtogether by a strong adhesive 38 as indicated generally at 39. Thesegments 36 may be characterized as elongate wings which can beseparated or spread one relative to the other because of the flexiblematerial from which they originate.

The interior surfaces of the wing portions 36 are coated with thepressure sensitive adhesive 38 and as seen in FIGS. 2 and 4, aprotective strip or cover 4%! is secured overlying said adhesive. Thestrips 40 are shorter than the plies 37 and can be peeled away from theadhesive so as to permit the device 30 to be mounted on a cover.

Adhesively secured in the loop of 32 is an elongate, hollow sleeve 42.The sleeve 42 is cylindrical in configuration and has approximately thesame axial length as the width of the loop 32. The sleeve 42 preferablyis made of a relatively rigid plastic material such as polystyrene. In acommercial embodiment of the invention, the strip material preferablywas polyethylene of .020 inch. The sleeve 42 had an interior diameter of/2 inch with an outside diameter of /s inch. The sleeve 42 may beinstalled at the time the strip is folded transversely. Note that theloop 32 is clear of secured plies 37 at 39.

To install the device 3t on the cover 20, the protective strips 40 arepeeled away and the location for installing the device is selected. Themarginal edge 44 of the cover sheet is inserted between the wings orsegments 36 to reach approximately adjacent the plies 37 which areadhesively secured together at 39. The wings 36 are pressed together toadhesively attach them to the cover 30 with the loop 32 and the sleeve42 spaced outwardly of the edge 44. As mentioned, the sleeve 42 issecured in the loop 32 by means of the adhesive 38 so that it will notfall out of the loop.

Since the device 30 is relatively wide and the wings 36 are relativelylong as compared to the portion of the de vice protruding beyond edge44, the wings 36 obtain an excellent purchase upon the cover sheet 44.The device 30 is anchored firmly and a strain on the loop 32 by a guyline 22 can be taken up in substantial measure by the sleeve 42. Thesleeve 42 being considerably more rigid than the loop 32 will preventcollapse of the loop 32 and thereby prevent the device from beinglaterally stripped from the cover 44. This would occur if the strain ofthe guy line 22 were taken up by the loop 32 alone causing the materialof the device to collapse and wrinkle inwardly. This would tear the edgeportions designated 46 from the marginal edge 44 in the direction of thearrows 48. Further, the rigid character of sleeve 42 in the axial lengththereof serves to distribute the strain on the loop 32 uniformly acrossthe width of the strip thereby preventing lateral tearing away of thestrip from the edge 44.

Obviously, if the device 30 is torn or otherwise damaged, it can beremoved from the cover 20 and a new one replaced. This is possiblebecause the adhesive 38 preferably is a pressure sensitive type.

The device 30 is formed from a water resistant material which does havesome slight give or elasticity along the length thereof although this isquite small. The preference for such slight elasticity is that upontaking up on the guy line 22, some of the strain will also be relievedby slight stretching of the device 30 in the direction of the pull. Sucha suitable material is a polyethylene plastic, for instance, althoughother materials may be suitable. The device .30 is conveniently packagedin multiple numbers.

What is desired to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A removable attachment device for use with flexible sheet coverscomprising at least one relatively wide, elongate length of water-proof,flexible material, said material having a pair of ply portions of equallength and width forming a pair of matching free ends defining abifurcated end portion and an opposite end portion having a loopformation, said bifurcated end portion having a coating of pressuresensitive adhesive formed upon inner working surfaces of said plyportions to allow removable securement of the marginal edge of a sheetcover between said inner facing working surfaces in a sandwich with theloop formation spaced outwardly from said edge, wherein the area ofpurchase of the ply portions upon the sheet cover is greater than thearea of that portion of the device which extends outwardly from themarginal edge of the sheet cover, and said inner facing surfaces arenormally separated by a covering strip which has end portions adapted tobe peeled away therefrom to expose the said coating there underlying forsecurement thereof to the said marginal edge, the invention whichcomprises reinforcing means for said loop formation, said reinforcingmeans comprising a substantially rigid sleeve secured within said loopfor the major portion of the coaxial length of said loop.

2. The attachment device of claim 1 wherein said length of materialconsists of a single band of plastic material folded transversely toform said pair of ply portions.

3. The attachment device of claim 1 wherein said sleeve is formed of alength of cylindrical plastic tubing and the interior wall of said loopformation has a coating of adhesive thereon to securely hold said rigidsleeve in position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 384,155 6/1888Hathorn 3656 X 1,042,870 10/1912 Benninghaus 3656 1,342,234 6/ 1920Smith. 1,675,771 7/ 1928 Sterling 24829 1,814,303 7/1931 Finlay.2,893,068 7/1959 Johnson et al. 3,052,436 9/ 1962 Margulis.

FOREIGN PATENTS 612,099 1/1961 Canada.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

D. GRIFFIN, Assistant Examiner.

1. A REMOVABLE ATTACHMENT DEVICE FOR USE WITH FLEXIBLE SHEET COVERSCOMPRISING AT LEAST ONE RELATIVELY WIDE, ELONGATE LENGTH OF WATER-PROOF,FLEXIBLE MATERIAL, SAID MATERIAL HAVING A PAIR OF PLY PORTIONS OF EQUALLENGTH AND WIDTH FORMING A PAIR OF MATCHING FREE ENDS DEFINING ABIFURCATED END PORTION AND AN OPPOSITE END PORTION HAVING A LOOPFORMATION, SAID BIFURCATED END PORTION HAVING A COATING OF PRESSURESENSITIVE ADHESIVE FORMED UPON INNER WORKING SURFACES OF SAID PLYPORTIONS TO ALLOW REMOVABLE SECUREMENT OF THE MARGINAL EDGE OF A SHEETCOVER BETWEEN SAID INNER FACING WORKING SURFACES IN A SANDWICH WITH THELOOP FORMATION SPACED OUTWARDLY FROM SAID EDGE, WHEREIN THE AREA OFPURCHASE OF THE PLY PORTIONS UPON THE SHEET COVER IS GREATER THAN THEAREA O THAT PORTION OF THE DEVICE WHICH EXTENDS OUTWARDLY FROM THEMARGINAL EDGE OF THE SHEET COVER, AND SAID INNER FACING SURFACES ARENORMALLY SEPARATED BY A COVERING STRIP WHICH HAS END PORTIONS ADAPTED TOBE PEELED AWAY THEREFROM TO EXPOSE THE SAID COATING THERE UNDERLYING FORSECUREMENT THEREO TO THE SAID MARGINAL EDGE, THE INVENTION WHICHCOMPRISES REINFORCING MEANS FOR SAID LOOP FORMATION, SAID REINFORCINGMEANS COMPRISING A SUBSTANTIALLY RIGID SLEEVE SECURED WITHIN SAID LOOPFOR THE MAJOR PORTION OF THE COAXIAL LENGTH OF SAID LOOP.